Folding door for fire departments and opener therefor.



PATENTED FEB. '5, 1907.

L. ELH-ALE & A. M. POX. FOLDING DOOR .FOR'FIRE DEPARTMENTS AND OPENERTHEREFOR.

' I APPLICATION FILED AUG..15, 1905. RENEWED OUT. 1, 1906.

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rus NORRIS No. 843,011. PATENTED EE. 5, 1907. L. E. EALE & A; M. FOX.FOLDING 'DOOR FOR EIEE DEPARTMENTS AND OPENER THERE-EOE.

APPLICATION FILED AUG.15; 1905. RENEWED OUT. 1, 1906. v

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TLORIN E. HALE AND ALVIN M. FOX, OF KANSAS CITY, MISSOURI, ASSIGNORS TOANDERSON COUPLING AND SUPPLY COMPANY, OF KANSAS CITY, MISSOURI, ACORPORATION OF MISSOURI.

FOLDING DOOR FOR FIRE DEPARTMENTS AND OPENER THEREFOR.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Feb. 5, 1907.

To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that we, LORIN E. HALE and ALVIN M. Fox, citizens of theUnited States, residing at Kansas City, in the county of Jackson andState of Missouri, have invented certain new and useful Improvements inFolding Doors for Fire Departments and Openers Therefor and we do herebydeclare the following to be a full, clear, and eXact description of theinvention, such as will enable others skilled-in the art to which itappertains to make and use the same.

Our invention relates to improvements in fire-department folding doorsand openers therefor.

It has for its object to provide doors which may be folded back, so asto leave the doorway entirely clear.

It has for its further object to provide means for locking the doorswhen closed and automatically opening said doors when the lock isreleased.

The invention consists in the features of construction and combinationsof parts hereinafter described, and more particularly pointed out in theclaims concluding this specification.

In the accompanying drawings, illustrating the preferred embodiment ofour invention, Figure 1 is an elevation of one set of doors closed. Fig.2- is a plan view thereof. Fig. 3 is a perspective view of the doorspartly closed as in the act of being opened. Fig. 4 is an elevationshowing the doors opened, and Fig. 5 is a plan view thereof.

hile the preferred embodiment of our invention is illustrated in theaccompanying drawings and its construction and operation are describedherein, the right is reserved to make such changes from the constructionshown and described herein as the scope of the claims hereto appendedwill permit.

Referring more particularly to the drawings, in carrying out ourinvention we hinge one of the doors 1 to the door-frame 2 far enoughinward of the door-opening 3 to permit said door 1 and the other door 4,which is hinged thereto, when folded flat upon one another, to standentirely within the casing or frame and leave the doorway unobstructed.It is understood that two sets or pairs of doors such as we have shownare used, one on each side of the doorway. The outside 5 door, which ishinged back from the edge of the frame, is wider than the inside door4:, as shown in Fig. 5.

A latch-rod 5 for locking the doors shut is arranged near the inner edgeof the outside door and is adapted to be operated by the lever 6,pivoted to said door and in turn actuated by a card 7, running to thetop of the door and over a pulley 7 on the door, and another pulley (notshown) which may be secured to the ceiling within reach of the driverwhen he sits in the seat of the fire apparatus. A guide-bar 8 is pivotedto a bracket 9, secured about midway of the top of the doorframe. Saidrod is pivoted so as to swing horizontally and passes throughpivotallymounted lugs 10, one on each door, mounted in brackets 11,secured to the inner top edges of the doors. Said rod forms anadditional lock for the doors when closed and guides said doors to theiropen position, preventing the inside door from swinging too far inward.

To the lug 10 on the inside door 4 is fastened the end of theweight-cord 12, which runs through a bracket 13 on the inside of thedoor-frame and carries the weight 14, which opens the doors when thelatch-rod is raised, and the doors are tripped by the driver pulling thelatch-cord. Said bracket extends out from the wall and carries ahorizontally-rotatable pulley 15 near its end, over which the cordpasses, whereby said cord acts in a line substantially parallel to theguide-rod as the doors are opened. The bracket 13 carries a secondpulley 16, capable of vertical rotation and hung near the wall. The cordpasses over this pulley and thence drops toward the floor with theweight at the end.

Having thus described our invention, what we claim as new, and desire tosecure by Letters Patent, is

1. A folding door, of the character described, comprising -a pluralityof members or doors, and a horizontally-pivoted guiderod passing throughpivotally-mounted lugs on the upper edges of said doors, for the purposespecified.

2. A folding door, of the character described, comprising a plurality ofmembers or doors, a horizontally-pivoted guide-rod passing throughpivotally-mounted lugs on the upper edges of said doors, a cord securedinside door and running through a bracket to the lug on the inside doorand running through a bracket extending out from the wall, so that saidcord acts in a line substantially parallel with the guide-rod as thedoors are being opened, and a Weight on the end of said cord.

3. A folding door, of the character described, comprising a plurality ofmembers or doors, a horizontally-pivoted rod passing throughpiVotally-mounted lugs on the upper edges of said doors, a cord carryinga weight on its end, said cord secured to the lug on the on the wall,means to lock the door closed, and means for unlocking and tripping thedoor, extending in reach of the driver when in his seat on the fireapparatus.

In testimony whereof we affix our signatures in presence of twowitnesses.

LORIN E. HALE. ALVIN M. FOX.

Witnesses:

JAMES HUNTER, R. E. KOHL.

